WNW Connects: Alex Center with New Balance Basketball
WORKING NOT WORKING
Back in November of 2017, Working Not Working Member Alex Center received a message on the WNW platform about a job opportunity. It had only been 2 months since he wrapped at Coke and he was focused on the launch of his Brooklyn-based brand and design company CENTER. The opportunity was with The Robot Company, an agency led by Paul Rivera and, as Alex puts it, “run by a group of brilliant badass women (shout out Angelina Singleton, Chelsea Wagman, Stephanie Shum Kooch, and Elyse Kellogg.)”
The Robot Company was hiring for a Creative Director and needed help with a high-priority project: launching New Balance into Basketball. “Over the course of the next year, we imagined what would become New Balance Basketball. A brand that could stand out in the crowded sneaker space by doing things independently, not about hype, but by being humble, focusing on craft, all while staying true to New Balance’s legacy. Then they signed Kawhi Leonard. The perfect partner. A player who just like New Balance, lets his game do the talking. Almost two years later the result, a brand that serves as a canvas for athletes to write their own stories. The first story ends…with a parade and a Times New Roman t-shirt (currently going for $185 on the secondary market). What a fun ride. Thank you to everyone that made this possible.”